The September Issue

The big screen has just welcomed the opening of the new Anna Wintour documentary called "The September Issue". It is a never been seen before look at a woman who is rarely photographed, never interviewed, and the challenges she faces putting together the biggest Vogue issue of the year. We all know that "The Devil Wears Prada" was based on one assistant's experience working for this world famous editor-in-chief and it did NOT show her in a very favorable light. Is this doc supposed to make us feel more compassionate towards Ms. Wintour? Or is it just a juicy insight into how harrowing life at the top really can be?

I don't know about the rest of you, but I soon hope to find myself sitting in a dark theater, front row center, nibbling on popcorn, watching the madness unfold. I can't say that I won't feel a tinge of jealousy towards the editorial assistants who may (unfortunately) be the subject of Wintour's wrath. After all, they have access to the one boutique that most of us (even if you aren't in Fashion Rehab) will never visit, the Vogue closet.

Love, A

Julia Stiles' Styles

This is a must-see!

Love,

A&P

Double Trouble

We are together in California and decided to take a quick trip to LA. After taking care of some business, we hit Fred Segal in Santa Monica to check out the latest goods for Fall and keep ourselves up on the newest styles.

It wasn't easy but, of course, we did not purchase anything... except for coconut brownies!

Love,

A&P

P.S. One helluva shout out to the super-cute girl who snapped this shot!

The Century Club

Days in Rehab: 100

Weight: 5 lbs lost (for real)

Cigarettes: none

Alcohol: too embarrassed to mention

Breakdowns: none as of yet, but maybe slowly heading towards the big one?

One “good for me” experience that I have been partaking in since Fashion Rehab started is that I have joined the gym. The elliptical has become my new friend. Not shopping has forced me to focus my time and energy in areas of my life that may have once been neglected. After all, it is so much easier to saunter up the street to check out what is happening at The Gap (BTW, did I mention how pissed I am that I missed The Gap/Vena Cava designer collaboration this past June?) then it is to put on workout gear and go to the gym. And when you get there you actually have to work out! Complaining aside, I really am enjoying myself and I have Fashion Rehab to thank for it.

There really is a silver lining in every dark cloud, right?

Love, A

Pre-Rehab P

Need I say more?

Love, P

A New Bag in Town

The Alexander Wang Bianca Vest Bag.

Would you or wouldn’t you? I seriously want to know. My first thought was “ABSOLUTELY NOT” but then I gave myself a few minutes to digest the look, and let my mind wander to reflect upon past trends of our time. I recalled the Chanel Spring ’08 show when Mr. Lagerfeld launched the ankle purse. Hideous at first, but then I warmed up to the idea. Wouldn’t wear one myself but definitely did not frown upon those who did! How about the Marc Jacobs grunge extravaganza of 1992? Perry Ellis mistakenly chose to fire him after that show and then he went on to become one of the most influential designers of our time. Pearl Jam was certainly not the only reason we wore plaid for all of those years, and somewhat inconceivably, are wearing it again!

Skinny jeans, oversized sunglasses, and one-shoulder dresses were are all trends that I was wary of at first but then embraced them like they were my own. Will Mr. Wang’s vest be the same? Will we mock it until we see one of our favorite “it” girls donning it in US Weekly (my bet is on Kate Moss) and then will H&M and Topshop have their “versions” of it in-store by next week? Only time will tell. Nine months from now, when I actually could purchase a variation of this bag, it may already be a flash in the pan! This time I think I am actually just a tiny bit relieved that I won’t have to make that decision.

Love, A

Beach Bummed

Mr. Darling and I have escaped the city's constant hum for the bliss of beach living, if only for a week. It's been over a year since we have had a vacation together and I think it is quite safe to say, we are enjoying every single minute of it! That being said, this is my first trip since entering Fashion Rehab, and though we are in a sleepy beach town, the shopping opportunities still abound. This is the fourth (or is it fifth?) year that we have come up north and one of our favourite things to do is to pick up a few new additions to our summer wardrobes. Shorts and flip-flops for Mr. Darling, sundresses and hats for me. None of that this year! Though I did gaze longingly at a marvy maxi dress... and, come to think of it, the cutest pair of surf shorts, nothing was purchased. As I lingered, Mr. Darling said, "See you next year!".

Now the silver lining in this is that I have inevitably developed a newfound fondness for some of my existing dresses and hats... For example, my trusty, foldable, brick red and brown striped sunhat that I bought a million years ago at Simon's in Montreal and don't go anywhere without when the sun is shining. I love this hat. Truly, love. It fits my teeny, tiny, pea-head, travels well and protects me in one of the most important ways. And my grey, yellow and white plaid sundress from Billabong. Amazingly, it doesn't wrinkle, fits like a glove and is beyond comfortable.

So, no new pieces this season, but some old ones that stand up. Beach Bummed?

Nah, not really.

Love, P

P.S. Yes, I am standing on a chair. No, I am not a giantess.

Wrap it Up

Although we are technically in “Fashion” Rehab, both P and I thought it would be a good idea to cut out purchasing other items (besides clothes and accessories) that we deemed excessive, like stationary or wrapping paper, for example. I could spend hours in any paper shop, perusing the cards, stickers, stamps, boxes, writing paper, etc., especially if it can be monogrammed. Why do we love seeing our names in print so much?

Anyway, the point is that over the weekend I was staying at my sister-in-law’s place just outside of Jackson Hole, WY, and wanted to give her a bottle of wine as a hostess gift. French Pinot Noir, I can buy. Fancy wine bag, I cannot. I didn’t want to make it look like I had just grabbed the vino at the last minute (I guess my secret is out now!) so I decided to use a plastic bag to make a pretty decorative bow. (Please note: I carry my pro-enviro canvas shopping bags with me pretty much everywhere I go but did not bring them on my travel adventures so I used the bag the wine came in). Reduce, reuse, recycle, right?

I first tore the bag along the long seam on one side and then the other so it opened in to a rectangular flat shape, then I tore apart the handles. I rolled the bag up lengthwise, which resulted in what looked like a long plastic ribbon. Next I tied it around the neck of the wine bottle, made two rabbit ears to tie the bow and then fanned it out, leaving the ends to dangle. Then I took this snazzy photo of it so you could see the final product!

They loved the wine, but seemed to be even more impressed with its packaging. Score one for the rehabbers!

Love, A

Sky High Standards

I had a revelation the other day: "Good God!", I thought to myself, "Am I a One-Wear Wonder?" I was having lunch with my lovely friend Steph when this thought came into my mind. She asked how Fashion Rehab was going. Not good, I told her. I am more cranky than ever and I want to shop most of the time.

Something about this experiment that has changed me, I noticed that day, is my dressing habits - obviously. I had decided to wear skinny jeans to our lunch with a black and white tunic that I picked up from the Jovovich/Hawk line for Target well over a year and a half ago. I have worn this top all of three times, twice being in the past three weeks! In my past life (pre-Fashion Rehab), where new items were aplenty, I don't think I ever wore the same thing twice. (Why do I feel a surge of embarrassment confessing that?) The same piece, yes. But not the same outfit. Not the same mix of styles. Not more than once. And embarrassed or not, this is the truth and it has contributed as much to my habit as lightning-fast trends, material indulgences and attempts to keep-up-with-the Joneses.

Why did I feel the need to wear every outfit only one time? Where and when did this behaviour develop? Since no one but me probably ever noticed, why did I put so much unnecessary pressure on myself? And to get really deep, why did I feel like I had failed if I couldn't come up with something that met, what I am beginning to realize, were my impossibly high standards? As if societal pressures weren't enough already!

This project has brought up so many questions, as you know if you have been following. And I know the answers will come eventually.

I promise to share them with you when they do.

Love, P

Christmas Came Early This Year

Don’t you just love getting mail? Postcards, invitations, birthday cards, thank-you notes, basically anything that has your name handwritten on it and doesn’t carry an 18% interest rate. Yesterday I received the absolute greatest gift in the mail. It was a pair of my own Colcci jeans. I had long-term loaned these Brazilian beauties to my rehab partner in crime, Lady P, when I was in my fifth month of pregnancy and the elastic band holding the top button together was just about to pop. It would have been so sad to let these jeans go unworn for over a year, collecting dust on my top shelf, so I sent them to a better home.

I had a hunch that I would see them sometime soon, but I really had no idea that they would show up on my door via Canada Post. It was like "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" but SO much better! I nervously tried them on, and after realizing that they did indeed fit, I literally did the dance of joy. Upon confirming with my man that there was absolutely no sag in my booty (in reference to my Denim in Distress post last week), I took off the jeans, folded them neatly and placed them on my dresser and did not let them out of my sight. After two and a half months of not having anything new in my closet, I was beyond excited. Dare I say it, but it was almost as good as shopping.

If you happen to have any pieces lying around on loan from your near and dears, why not get in touch and see about shipping those goods off? If they are even half as excited as I am about the return of my baby blues it will be well worth your while!

Love, A

Flower Power

Whilst germinating on this experiment of ours, A & I spent many hours formulating the Rules & Regs. There were many debates: Would we still be able to get our toes done? What happens if all our glasses break? And the lengthy back and forth of the books and magazines discussion (sorry about that one, Mr. Darling!). My perspective was that since I have a problem, I didn't want to transfer my fashion spending ways into spending-on-everything-else ways.

If you have been reading, then you know that times have been rough for this Torontonian Fashion Rehaber. Lately, there have definitlely been some ups, but sadly the downs are also still creeping around. So, thank goodness, A set me straight on the Fresh Flower Debate.

I was a total sadster yesterday (not to be confused with "scenester") and went out and bought the most beautiful flowers (pictured above). They have cheered me in a way that only something so naturally beautiful can.

Love, P

The Red Shoe Diaries

The truth is, I don’t even own one pair. I claim to be a fashionista and I do not even have one red-soled shoe in my closet! Tragic, I know. The closest I have come to owning a pair of Christian Louboutins was when I was in the Louboutin boutique in the meatpacking district in New York two years ago. I found myself trying on pair after pair, chatting with my fellow shoppers, pretending to contemplate whether or not I actually needed another patent four-inch pump. In reality, I was actually just calculating how many extra hours of work it would take to get my hands (or should I say feet?) on a pair. Needless to say, the math didn’t add up and I left empty-handed.

My next closest encounter was a few nights ago when my friend Sarah led me to her closet to show me her latest purchase from Wilkes Bashford in Mill Valley. Out of the box came one brand new pair of oh-so-super-cute Louboutin espadrilles in brown suede. She paid $168. $168? Yes, it is true. And then it dawned on me that one of my favorite retail seasons had basically passed me by because I am in Fashion Rehab. The end of July/beginning of August marks the “everything must go, and at an insanely low price” time in the shopping calendar. These crazy sales are everywhere, and they are not for the faint of heart! Sarah said that she thought that they were the last available pair (no doubt), but there still may be some low-priced gems to be found online and in your local boutiques.

For or those of you who have checked yourself into your own Fashion Rehab, might I suggest hiding in your house until this stormy season passes?

Love, A